Mildred ‘Millie’ Dovell, 88

Long-time Wilton resident Mildred Morin Dovell, “Millie,” age 88, died peacefully at home on January 31, 2013. Millie was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1924, where her early years were surrounded by an extended family and by music and dance. She attended Mary Washington College in Virginia until the outbreak of the Second World War, at which time she went to work as a typist for the War Department in Washington D.C. At the end of the War, she completed her teaching degree at Radford University in Radford Va. There she met her future husband, Ray Dovell, on a blind date in 1948 at a college mixer with Virginia Tech. They married in 1950 in Petersburg.

For the first 20 years of their married lives, they traversed the country in connection with Ray’s work in the oil business, living for various times in Beaumont, Texas; Bellingham, Washington; Augusta, Kansas; Darien, Connecticut and Richmond, Virginia. They settled in Wilton in 1970, interrupted in the mid-80s by four years in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Millie taught elementary school while living in Texas, prior to having four children: Susan, of Falls Church, VA; Louise, deceased; Ray Jr., of Hasting-on-Hudson, NY and Andrew, of Sydney, Australia. During her years in Wilton she was active in voluntary activities including the Society to Aid the Retarded, and Hospice of Mid-Fairfield.

In the mid 90s she initiated The Mildred Morin Dovell Scholarship at Radford University to help education majors. Millie was known for her quick smile and good humor, her infectious friendship with everyone around her, and especially for her ability to dance the Charleston, tap, and just about any other music that inspired her.

She is survived by Ray, her husband of 62 years, her three children, and her five grandchildren, Kelly, Annie, Ada, Fraser and Frances. A memorial service in her honor will be held at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton on Friday, February 8th, at 10:00. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to the Radford University Foundation, P.O. Box 6915, Radford, VA 24142, designated for the Mildred Morin Dovell Scholarship.